I have called Deputy Cairns.

Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. There is a constant dread that is now hanging over people’s lives. It is a quiet, growing panic about whether they can make it to the next payday. We have more evidence today of the huge cost-of-living pressures people are under. A new survey in the Irish Independent confirms what we already know, which is that costs have soared again. Households are now spending on average an extra €2,000 per year just to get by. People who could never afford luxuries now cannot afford the basics. Everything they earn is swallowed up by skyrocketing rents, childcare fees, mortgage payments, and energy and grocery bills. As those people desperately tread water, this Government refuses to throw them a lifeline. Even when Eurostat tells us that electricity prices here are the highest in the EU, at nearly 40% above the average, the Government is still telling people to wait until the budget in October, or maybe even next January, to get any support. Does the Taoiseach realise how crushing that is to hear if you are already at breaking point? The Government has the resources to act; it is just choosing not to do so.

The Social Democrats have a comprehensive plan that could be adopted now, with targeted measures to support low- and middle-income workers who are now under enormous pressure, including a €400 energy credit targeted at households earning up to €70,000, a supplementary mileage scheme for essential workers like nurses and carers, and a €400 emergency cost-of-disability payment. As the Taoiseach knows, disabled people were struggling long before this energy crisis. Disability was meant to be a priority for this Government. What will it take for disabled people to be heard?

We need emergency supports today and solutions for tomorrow to protect households from future energy shocks. That is why we have proposed a "solar for all" plan that could be rolled out rapidly and would bring down costs instantly. It includes making solar panels free for the homes most at risk of energy poverty, doubling grants to €3,600, a new grant for battery storage and finally rolling out plug-in solar, which this Government has delayed for far too long. Imagine the difference it would make to people’s lives if they could simply plug in solar panels from their balconies and watch their bills fall. These measures are practical and achievable, and would make a real difference, so why is the Government not doing any of this? The Taoiseach says he supports targeted measures and says this is an unprecedented crisis, so why will his Government not act like it and deliver the targeted support people need now?

First of all, the Government has provided targeted support. The evidence is there in terms of the free school books at primary and secondary levels. That is a significant measure we have brought in, which this year again will assist many families with what was a major cost for those with children attending primary and secondary school. We have expanded the free hot school meals programme. We have expanded childcare and we need to do more on the childcare front. We have the €280 new baby grant, for example. Hospital inpatient charges were abolished. We have expanded free GP care significantly, particularly for children. In the most recent package, we have significantly provided for a reduction in diesel and petrol that will affect ordinary people.

That is immediate and that is happening. If it was not, their costs would be significantly higher. We have also provided packages for the transport sector of about €40 million per month. There is a €100 million worth of a fuel scheme for farmers, contractors and fishers. Of course, the diesel rebate increased to 12 cent per litre.

We expanded the fuel allowance and increased it to €38 per week. We expanded eligibility and brought in those on the working family payment. Now about 470,000 households benefit from that. The Deputy cannot ignore all that. She does not get to choose which measures Government has introduced to ignore, and just articulate a banal assertion that Government has done nothing. Just because the Deputy keeps saying Government has done nothing does not mean that is true. Clearly, Government has done a lot.

The reality is we have a budget in October. We do not know where this crisis is going or, indeed, the more medium-term consequences of it. We need to hold some resources in reserve for the winter period, at a minimum, and work out how best to systemically cushion the lowest income groups and those who need our support the most.

I support the Deputy's broad principle of targeting. I have challenged others in the House who do not support it but I do. In the budget, we have a far better range of measures so we can arrive at a balanced approach where we can give working people relief but where we can also target measures. We did that in the previous budget with child support payments, which were the highest on record, in terms of what we did there to try to eat into the issue of child poverty. We want to do that consistently over time. We also want to make sure we can reduce the cost of childcare and look again at what we can do in healthcare. Can we add to measures we have taken previously with HRT, free contraception and so on?

If the Deputy wants to blow everything today and spend €2 billion or €3 billion now, she might come back in July and say let us spend another €2 billion. By the time we get to October, there will be €5 billion or €6 billion spent. That is no way to run a country either.

This is not about ignoring certain measures the Government has introduced but when I ask the Taoiseach about targeted supports for people who cannot pay their bills, in the context of an energy crisis and rising costs of 70% in a month for home heating oil, it is not that I have no regard for the free book scheme. For somebody watching, who is struggling to pay their bills, when the Taoiseach is asked about targeted energy supports for people who cannot pay their bills and he talks about the school book scheme, they despair.

In the context of these rising energy costs, the Taoiseach understands there is an energy crisis, understands we have energy costs that are 40% higher than the European average and understands how much people are struggling. How does he expect people to wait until October? We already had hundreds of thousands of people in arrears on their energy bills before this crisis. We already had disabled people out on the street protesting for an emergency disability payment. Even before that, we knew that one in five disabled people is living in poverty but the Taoiseach will not bring in any measures between now and the budget for these people who need help.

We invested an additional 20%, up to €500 million extra, in disability services. That is systemic, sustainable and something that will happen year on year. We increased the domiciliary care allowance for a second year in a row by an additional €20. We will do more in the forthcoming budget. If you look at the changes we have made to the fuel allowance scheme, a two adult household will benefit by about €2,300 per annum as a result of that. A lone parent family will benefit by up to €1,800. These are significant measures we are taking. We extended it because of the impact of the war in the Middle East, which has undoubtedly created huge pressures all round. The biggest issue is uncertainty about how long this crisis will last and the direction it will take in terms of the impact on fuel prices, which will then impact everything else.

We have to be very careful too of the inflationary impact of Government spending. If Government just allocates another €4 billion or €5 billion, that sounds great but it simply brings us to a 5% or 6% inflation rate, which would not be sustainable.